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The Garden of Forking Paths
| aired = April 22, 2010 | title_image = Mark Benford running | writer = David S. Goyer Lisa Zwerling | director = Nick Gomez | guest_cast = Michael Massee as Dyson Frost Barry Shabaka Henley as Shelly Vreede Rachel Roberts as Alda Hertzog Neil Jackson as Lucas Hellinger Geoffrey Owens as Dr. Julian Ebbing Norma Maldonado as Judge Sandoz Rizwan Manji as Maneesh Sandhar with James Callis as Gabriel McDow and Gabrielle Union as Zoey Andata | co-starring = Lennon Wynn as Charlie Benford Lawrence A. Mandley as Kent Nelson Jonathan Levit as Martin Dewey Malachi Smith as Boy | uncredited = }} Summary The episode starts with Demetri Noh sitting in a chair with an elaborate gun setup pointed at him. The gun's red crosshair is pointing at his chest. Behind him is Dyson Frost's wall, not too dissimilar to Mark Benford's wall, but with smaller pictures and more writing, in many colors. At the FBI office, Mark, Olivia Benford, and a couple agents talk to Charlie Benford about her meeting with Dyson Frost, seeing how much she remembers and if anything he told her could help them rescue Demetri. She cannot give them much information, but goes over what happened at the carnival: she was sitting alone on a bench with cotton candy when Dyson sat down and introduced himself. He makes what sounds like innocent small talk, and mentions the Dr. Seuss's book One Fish, Two Fish before giving her a picture (it is the 1808 "Oedipus and the Sphinx" by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres) with the instructions to give it to Mark Benford before leaving. The back of the picture reads: :IF YOU WANT DEMETRI BACK : :UNION STATION. :MAIN CONCOURSE. :MARCH 15TH. :NOON. Meanwhile Zoey Andata meets with Alda Hertzog to try to get information out her again. She reminds her of the situation at hand with Demetri, but Alda is uncooperative and sarcastic as usual. Alda says she wants a hearing and she will talk then, but Zoey has already filed one, and is waiting on a court date. That is not good enough for Alda, she says she should make it happen today. Mark and the FBI agents then head off for Union Station, with Stanford Wedeck thinking that Dyson would be there, but Mark knows better and that something else is up given it is Dyson Frost after all. Demetri is still sitting on the chair. It is revealed that the gun is rigged to a timer, giving him slightly over 6 hours to live. He makes an attempt to get up but even the tiniest motion sets off sensors and the gun gets ready to fire. A flashback happens, six months before the Global Blackout. Alda is walking with a man, Hellinger, who introduces her to Dyson Frost. He explains that Frost is difficult to work with, but is needed since he is one of a few who understand the physics involved with flashforwards. Before stepping into Dyson's hideout, the man says, "Just know that if he gets too unmanageable, we may ask you to take care of him." They meet and the mystery man says Dyson helped them engineer the Raven River experiments. Dyson corrects him, saying he invented it, and noting that he is one of the few participants still alive. When asked whether the QED is ready, Frost shows Hellinger and Hertzog the first ring. Back in the present, Dyson explains to Demetri that his wall, which he refers to as a "Garden of Forking Paths", shows possible futures based on critical actions he has taken over the years. He started having flashforwards in the '80s, creating hundreds and thousands of flashforwards. The length of them could be minutes or years, and every time he saw a different future. Dyson reveals that in most of his many flashes, Demetri will end up killing him. Frost is afraid this will come true unless drastic action is taken to prevent it. He says he will not kill Demetri himself, because he wants to play out the future as it was seen as close as possible, but with Demetri as insurance, even if they will both live. He leaves Demetri to his own demise, though says he has no idea what will really happen. Mark and the FBI are at Union Station, waiting for Frost to make contact. Zoey somehow arranges a hearing for Alda on same day. Before walking into her hearing, Zoey makes eye contact with a window cleaner. Shelly Vreede meets with Olivia Benford to ask her to identify the homeless murder victim. Olivia is sure she will not be able to identify him. However, Vreede tells her that the same person had a cell phone on him that was used to send her the text messages regarding Mark drinking in his flashforward. Eventually the FBI get a lead. Mark Benford is given a children's backpack from a child paid to give it to him. Inside is a cell phone with Dyson on the other end. Dyson tells him that the only way to keep Demetri alive is to do as he says and not speak, unless told to do so. He says wants to help, and will say "when and why" the next blackout will occur, but that his former partners would do anything to get him found and detained. FBI agents outside try to tap into the call and listen, but the place is too busy for that to happen, so they don't overhear any of the conversation. Frost has Mark say a phony address as a diversion for the FBI so he can privately meet him, then instructs Mark to lose the FBI by making a dramatic escape that has already been planned out. Before he makes the escape, Demetri has 4 hours, 23 minutes left to live. Mark successfully eludes the FBI in a rental car and follows Dyson's directions. During Alda's hearing, Zoey tries to make a case that Alda has appendicitis and that she get another CAT scan, but it is unsuccessful as Alda has already had medical attention twice recently and nothing was discovered. Alda then fulfills her part of the bargain with Zoey to talk if she got her a hearing by saying that in her flashforward, she overheard Demetri's body being found in "Building 7", but that is all she knows. Waiting outside the court room to be transported away, the window where Alda Hertzog's accomplice was waiting explodes, and Alda jumps through it, escaping. Olivia is now at at the morgue to identify the homeless murder victim, but cannot, though she is still trying ot help. It's noted that the victim has abnormal brain physiology, suggesting he may be an autistic savant. Mark Benford, still following directions from Dyson Frost to a mystery location, eventually meets up with him in "the middle of nowhere" (a deserted flatland field somewhat off the side of the road). Dyson is not taking any chances and is still ordering Mark how to act (now with a gun and handcuffs). Mark pretends to take a zip from his water bottle and spits into Dyson's face. Unbeknownst to Frost, Mark has filled the bottle with Gasoline which burns / irritates Dyson Frost's eyes. Frost is overpowered by Mark but still doesn't answer any of the questions Mark is asking. Zoey brings the information from Alda back to the FBI, who will start sending out notices and searching for building 7's around Los Angeles and key points relevant to her (her house, the FBI, the church where they were going to get married at). Dyson Frost is still being contained by Mark Benford and is still uncooperative, but does say, "In the end, you're gonna be saved by the lady you see every day." He is about to tell Mark a critical piece of information but then spots a motorcycle, indicating Mark was followed. Before he can speak, he is shot with a sniper rifle by Alda. She mutters "Not today, Mark" when Mark drops for cover and quickly takes off. Mark scrambles to extract information out of Dyson about Demetri and the blackout. Dyson dies seconds later, only saying "I did what I did for a reason." Mark rummages through Dyson's briefcase, seeing images that he had tacked up upon his future Mosaic wall in his flashforward and pieces together where Demetri is being held with the help of the nude painting and Dyson's rental car's GPS history. Olivia meets a doctor who specialized in savants, but still can see no connection. Mark arrives at Demetri's location. After getting back in touch with the FBI office and hearing Alda's info from Janis Hawk and Zoey, Mark makes his way to building 7. He discovers Demetri still sitting in his chair, and tries to reposition the gun so that when it goes off, it misses. He cannot put something in front of the path and Dyson has thought of most ways to disable it. Demetri is certain he will die, but Mark remembers Dyson saying he gave Mark "all the answers". Mark remembers further back to Frost mentioning "One Fish, Two Fish" to Charlie. Mark proceeds to remove a red wire, then a blue wire, like in the story, and then repositions the gun higher and higher, with only seconds remaining. When the gun goes off, it misses Demetri, so he lives. Demetri carefully gets out of the chair, when the sprinkler system behind him goes off, washing off everything written on Dyson Frost's wall. Olivia is told that Mark saved Demetri. As she approaches a coffee stand and starts to order, an apparent autistic savant named Gabriel orders for her, saying exactly what she wanted and that he's been in line with her, the exact same line, many times before. He starts rambling about the Raven River experiments but Olivia is confused and has no idea what he is talking about. Vreede unsuccessfully tries to get Gabriel to come back with him to the FBI for questioning. Demetri is reunited with Zoey. Janis is looking at what remains of Dyson Frost's wall, while Mark explains what it means and the one thing he remembers: written at the top was "December 12, 2016 – The End", with all paths leading to it. Trivia Production Notes * * * * * This is the first episode in which Rizwan Manji (Maneesh Sandhar) appears without a surgical mask. Cultural References * The Garden of Forking Paths: This episode shares its title with this short story by Jorge Luis Borges, which deals with the idea of multiple possible timelines, much like Frost envisions. * Superman: The young boy at the train station gives Mark a Superman backpack per Dyson Frost's request. * Dr. Suess: Charlie retells of her encounter with Dyson Frost, in which, they discuss Dr. Suess books like One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and Horton Hears a Who!. * Rain Man: When told that the homeless man who was killed by Frost was possibly a savant, Vreede remarks, "Like Rain Man, or something." Rain Man tells the story of Charlie Babbitt, who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, Raymond, a man with autism of whose existence Charlie was unaware. * Oedipus: Vreede explains that the image given to Charlie by Frost is Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres' painting Oedipus explains the riddle of the Sphinx. Oedipus fulfilled a prophecy that said he would kill his father and marry his mother, and thus brought disaster on his city and family. Literary Techniques * Irony: Mark was able to angle the gun above Demetri's head before it went off, avoiding his death, but the three bullets meant for Demetri's chest shot through the chest area of Demetri's photo that Frost had pinned to his Garden of Forking Paths. Unanswered Questions General * How will Demetri's rescue alter everyone's future? * Who is friend Gabriel was talking about? * What does "The End" means? * What do the diving suit photos and the schematics mean? ** Is there any direct connection between those two clues? * Where is Raven (Ravin'?) River? Flashes * How did Alda hear about building 7 in her flashforward?